Starlight
by AmazingGraceless
Summary: Modern!Au. The evil cult of vampires known as the Empire work with the Volturi to root out the Jedi, who protect humankind from the vampires. What happens when a certain family of misfits who have all lost family due to the Empire discover special powers within them all? Cullen Bashing! Ashoka Tano! Leia! Han! Fem!Luke! Best of all, MARA JADE!
1. That's What You Get

**AN: This story is a Modern!AU for Star Wars:Rebels, where they discover they've got the Force. It does feature an OC that belongs to Artemis the Rebel, Sathkan Lun, who features in _Traitor_ , by Artemis the Rebel, which I highly recommend. Ashoka Tano will also feature in this fic.**

 **To everyone: confession: I like _Twilight_. Only the first book, though. This will have some bashing, but it's fanfic, and I do realize that the Twilight Saga has flaws. Besides, who doesn't want to see lightsabers go through vamps? I thought so. Without further ado, _Starlight_.**

* * *

Rain fell outside of the Jarrus residence, as it always did in Forks. The twilight hour had come, and Hera Syndulla-Jarrus, a motherly figure in her mid-thirties scanned over the residence with her warm emerald eyes. She first scanned the room with paintings and drawings pinned to the walls and pencils and sketches littering the floor. A girl with boyishly short dyed hair was curled up beneath her blanket, which caused Hera to smile.

She checked on the next room, shared by a dark-skinned refugee, a former street rat, and a former gangster from Seattle. She was relieved to see that all three were asleep, and weren't bickering, as they were prone to.

Hera went down to the living room, where she waited for Kanan and one of the members of his police force, Ashoka Tano, to return.

"What's taking them so long?" Hera wondered aloud. On cue, claws dug into her scalp. "CHOPPER!" Hera screamed, as the vivid orange tabby jumped from atop her head. She massaged the top of her head.

"I swear sometimes, Chopper," she sighed, as she sat down on the couch, reading a science fiction novel about people with telekinesis and laser swords taking down an empire and restarting an order of mystical warriors who opposed the evil people with telekinesis that ran the empire, and waited for the missing members of the family to return home.

Rain pelted the door and moistened the carpet as the final two returned home. Kanan Jarrus was a lithe man with long dark hair he often tied back into a ponytail, something that the kids called him a "hippie" for. Although his ideas about a "Force" probably helped the image.

Next was Ashoka Tano, a black woman with a series of blue braids she often wore on her head, a petite, yet muscular woman who was known for her ability to use two pistols at once, something that the police department consistently praised her for.

"You're late," Hera said coolly, as she got to her feet.

"Sorry," Kanan apologized, before giving her a kiss on the cheek. "We were a bit late filing. Besides, the Chief Swan was practically partying in his cubicle the whole day."

Hera frowned. "What's going on?"

"Apparently, his daughter, Isabella, I think, is coming to stay with him," Kanan explained. "Remember the story about the chief's ex-wife, Renée?"

Hera nodded. "Yes, isn't she married to some minor-league baseball player now?"

"Yeah, pretty much," Kanan said as he sat down. "Basically, the chief wouldn't shut up about it, and now it's another piece of town gossip."

"Wow." Hera could only repeat that word over and over.

"Pretty much," Ashoka said. "The poor girl probably won't like what's coming, with town gossips and all."

"I'll make sure to tell Sabine, Ezra, and Sathkan to make her feel welcome," Hera said.

"Oh, I'm sure she'll have more than enough new friends," Kanan chuckled.


	2. Crushcrushcrush

"I think that's her," Ezra said, as a sixteen-year-old girl with ivory features and thick dark hair rushed past.

Sabine looked up from her sketchbook. "Yep," she said with a darkened expression. "That would be Isabella- wait, excuse me- Bella Swan, the Good Chief's daughter."

"She's gorgeous," Sathkan and Ezra chorused. Sabine smacked both the back of their heads.

"OW!" Ezra shouted. "What was that for, 'Bine?" Bella Swan looked back at him, with a brief look like he was trash disturbing her day with his one complaint.

"Once you two have put your eyes back in your head," Sabine snarked. "I think you'll notice a certain clan of foster children have come in."

Most people noticed these beautiful godlike creatures that were invading the cafeteria. Boys and girls drooled over these five beautiful creatures, that all had common characteristics- skin paler than the new girl's, almost pale enough to sparkle, from Sabine noticed, perfect, angular features that reeked of uncanny valley, and shiny hair that was always in some airbrushed style, dark bruises under their eyes that was the only imperfection, much to the relief of the trio's eyes, and they moved with unearthly speed and grace.

Ezra always eyed some of the girls in the school, but he never eyed the two inhumanly girls, Alice Cullen and Rosalie Hale, and for good reason. There were creatures very similar to them that he'd had nightmares about ever since he was a child of seven years. Ezra Bridger had watched the murder of his parents by vampires.

Sathkan didn't find these ethereal women to be attractive, either, for he had worked for some, at one time, in Seattle. They were awful creatures, vampires, and no one in the Jarrus family had anything good to say about them, even the Cullens, who supposedly feasted on animal blood rather than human blood.

Of course, the Cullens weren't aware of the Jarruses' knowledge of their existence as sparkly immortals, and the Jarrus clan liked to keep it that way.

"Look, apparently the single bloodsucker has found someone worthy of attraction," Sathkan said coldly.

"Yes, the shiny new toy," Sabine shot back.

"Geez, Sabine, calm down," Ezra said. "Jealous much?"

"You wish," Sabine said, as she punched him in the arm playfully. "No, I just don't see what makes people so attracted, other than her being the shiny new toy."

"Jealous!" Ezra sang.

Sabine rolled her eyes. "I've got to go to Biology. Try not to kill a Cullen while you're in Chemistry, Ez."

She got up and began for Biology class with Sathkan. It was rather hard for Sathkan to focus on this lecture when he could feel the anger of the youngest Cullen radiating off onto the new girl.

It made his nerves tingle. He didn't like the feelings, the memories of working for cruel bloodsuckers that were resurfacing. The lights started flickering, and suddenly, there was a flash of lightning, and the lightbulbs shattered.

Sathkan pushed Sabine and himself underneath the desks immediately after the lightning, and they avoided getting hit by the shards. The classroom was now in utter darkness. He didn't like that. That meant that a Cullen, as moral as they seemed to be, could finally get the chance they'd been waiting for to attack a human.

"Wait here, everybody!" The teacher ran out of the room.

 _That's wonderful,_ Sathkan thought. But he had worse things to worry about as a sinking realization hit him.

The only kid out of there faster was Edward Cullen. Sathkan himself had practically run out of the classroom.

* * *

"Sathkan? Sathkan!" Sabine cried. She ran up next to him, running to keep up. "What's wrong? Come on, talk to me!"

He abruptly whipped around and faced her, gray eyes wide. "The lightning, Sabine."

"Whoa, whoa, wait, are you afraid of lightning?" Sabine asked, as she reached out a hand that wasn't occupied with her books to steady him.

"No... 'Bine, I caused the lightning, somehow," Sathkan confessed.

"That's not possible." She shook her head. "You can't create lightning."

"Hey, Specter Five! Specter Seven!" Their heads turned to see Ezra hurrying towards them, looking really worried.

"What is it, Specter Six?" Sabine asked. It was a bunch of nicknames they used for their little family when they didn't want the other kids to know who they were talking about. In fact, they exclusively used them in front of the Cullens.

"So this kid, he was sneering on about how I was in remedial classes, y'know, because I was a runaway for so long, but I pushed him away without touching him. Of course, he went and blabbed to a teacher, so I need you guys to give me a ride home from detention," Ezra said, ending sheepishly.

"Funny, Specter Seven said something similar," Sabine said. "I think you two should talk to Specter Two, if it happened to both of you."

The boys nodded in agreement.

"And by the way, Specter Six, Specter Seven and I will do our homework out in the Phantom while we wait for you," Sabine said.

Ezra nodded, and he headed to his next class, as did Sathkan and she.


	3. Miracle

"Kanan!" Three little voices called as they entered the house. Hera came down quickly, looking distressed. Her blond pigtails flew behind her as she greeted the three high-schoolers.

"He's still on a shift right now- what's wrong?" She asked.

The trio exchanged a glance.

"What did you do to get in detention this time?" Hera folded her arms over her chest and frowned sternly at them.

"Yeah, what did you do?" Zeb came up behind Hera. The trio gulped. They never liked to mess with Zeb, especially Sathkan and Ezra. At least Sabine was on mostly-good terms with him. For Ezra, it was halfway good, and Sathkan had semi-decent relations. Not good.

"Heh heh, that's what we wanted to talk to Kanan about," Ezra said in a small voice.

"What did you do?" Hera pressed.

"Look, it's really weird," Sabine said, speaking up. "Sathkan managed to electrocute the Biology classroom, but get this, he wasn't even touching anything. And Ezra made a kid fly across the hallway without ever laying a hand on him."

"And you aren't pulling our leg?" Zeb said, who looked dumbfounded by her statement.

"They aren't pulling your leg," a soft voice said. Ashoka descended the stairway. "They're talking about the Force. It's the force of life that connects the circle of life and the material world. It surrounds us, it binds us, it gives us life, and life after death. Some are in touch with the Force, and can use it for supernatural purposes, such as a push, as Ezra demonstrated. Kanan and I have that power. I know you do, too, Sathkan. Kanan will be home soon, and then I promise we'll explain it a little better."

The boys nodded. "I'll go help you with your homework," Sabine groaned to Ezra's puppy-dog stare now focused on her. Sathkan curled his hands into fists, and stormed off to their bedroom.

"What's his problem?" She asked, her eyes following him up.

Ezra shrugged, despite knowing exactly what was wrong. He just didn't want to admit it for the same reason Sathkan didn't- it would involve some embarrassing confessions for either side.

* * *

"We haven't explained everything to you," Kanan said as they all sat down for a family meeting in the living room after serving up pizza. "I know Ashoka gave you some of the basics. But here's the thing I need to tell you first. The Force can do great things. But there's a dark side. Some powers are good, and we call these light-side powers. Others are malicious, and are called dark-side powers. Occasionally, Force-users can use dark-side powers for good, and vice versa. But the dark side is tempting, and once you get on it, it's like addiction, and there's no going back."

He looked at Sathkan. "You said you used lightning?"

Sathkan nodded. Kanan regarded him gravely. "That's a dark-side power, Sathkan. I'd be careful about using it."

Sathkan nodded thoughtfully. "The vampires I worked with in Seattle, they said they kept me around because I had shown signs of having a gift."

"You would," Kanan said. "Vampires desperately want Force-users on their side when they turn, because Force-users have multiple abilities, whilst the average vamp with a superpower only has one."

He looked at Ashoka. "There's more."

"Remember how we said that we were a bit different from other members of the police squad?" She said.

There were nods all around.

"Kanan and I are part of a special force of Force-users, pun intended, that dedicate their lives to policing the supernatural. We keep peace between the mortal and magical world," Ashoka explained. "Or at least, we used to be."

"What happened?" Sabine asked.

"The Volturi betrayed us," Kanan said.

"Who's the Volturi?" Ezra interrupted.

Kanan gave him a frustrated look. "The Volturi is the vampire royalty and police. They keep the laws to the vampire world. Or they did. They used to work in peace with the Force-users, but something changed. They killed most of them, and they were spread out in police forces all around the world. Something changed that night. Something big."

"That explains a lot..." Sathkan muttered.

"We're going to train you to be the special type of Force-user. We call them Jedi," Ashoka said.

"Wow," Ezra said.

Sabine squirmed. _What's my place? Why can't I use the force? What are the odds?_

"Sabine," Kanan said gently. She jumped.

"Relax," Hera said soothingly, as she laid a hand over Sabine's wrist. "Are you okay?" She asked.

"I just don't get why the boys are the ones who get to use the Force," she said, looking down at her own hands. "And I'm just Sabine."

"And Just Sabine is enough for us," Hera said, and she held her close.


	4. Misery Business

Sabine found herself hanging around school more and more. Kanan and Ashoka were with Sathkan and Ezra so often, she felt all alone. So that meant more artwork to unleash her feelings, and she'd rather do it in the school's art center with the emo kids wearing earbuds than alone at home, listening to sessions of meditation, where the boys were supposedly 'becoming One with the Force.'

Today was one of those days. Kanan would be dropping the boys off, so she decided to come to school early, and she was sitting out in the car listening to Taylor Swift and doing her art in her sketchbook in the backseat. Yeah, it was girly, but so what? It was one of the few moments she could listen to her music, not the boys, because she certainly wouldn't share her secret love for TSwift with those little traitors. They'd make fun of her.

Yep, she enjoyed mornings like this. She glanced at the rear-view mirror, and saw a truck, heading into her car, or exactly where that shiny new toy, Bella Swan, was standing. There was no time to act. She saw a flash, and the truck come towards her all too fast in horror. Her vision went red, and pain shot through her body.

When she opened her eyes again, there was a hunk of metal hanging only a few centimeters from her face. _Am I dying?_ She wondered dazedly. Her forehead felt wet. And there was something embedded in her scalp, yes, it was rather uncomfortable. Her stomach hurt.

Voices, very faint, were buzzing about outside.

 _"Get her out of there!"_

 _"Are you alright, Bella? I think you hit your head hard."_

 _"Ow."_

 _"We've got two teens trapped in the wreckage, and there's another car, we don't know if someone's inside or not."_

They were almost annoying to Sabine. She wished they would just shut up. They were giving her a headache. Her eyes were slowly closing in attempt to block it all out. Maybe it would all hurt less if she just closed her eyes...

 _"Sabine!"_ She heard the cry from the parking lot.

"Sathkan?" She mumbled sleepily.

 _"We've got another in the backseat of the other car! Has a head wound, looks like she's about to go unconscious- get her out of there, now!"_

Sabine wondered why there was such bright light. She half-heartedly tried to block it away, but her wrist was tied down, and she was lying on something else.

"'Bine!" She heard Kanan cry out. _Why's he so scared? What happened? I'm fine right? I just...hurt._

 _"We need to keep her awake. Get her talking,"_ a paramedic ordered.

 _"What's your name, kid?"_ The golden eyes of Edward Cullen locked onto hers, and she started squirming. Something had kick-started inside of her. _This is vampire. I can't trust it_.

 _"Come on, talk to me,"_ he said, almost pleading. It was uncanny, how pretty his voice sounded. It put all of her hair on end.

"Sabine," she murmured.

 _"That's right, you're with that quiet blond kid in Biology,"_ he chuckled. Sabine frowned at him. Something in her felt like she should defend the poor boy who'd been taken in by his kind, and had witnessed so many horrors at the hands of those imperial monsters.

"Sathkan," she said.

 _"Is it true that he lives with your family?"_ He asked.

"So? Who are you to judge, Cullen?" She snarled.

 _"Whoa, easy,"_ he chuckled. _"Why do you hate me?"_

Sabine made an attempt to open her eyes a little wider. "Something's weird with you," she allowed herself to say. "You're too pretty, too nice-smelling, too smart, too close to perfect to be natural. You're uncanny."

 _"You have no idea,"_ he replied.

 _"Doc, her heart's going a bit quick!"_

 _"Get her in! Page Dr. Cullen! Now!"_

And then suddenly she was moving. _"We've got to get her into a cat-scan, and then we've got to put her under, get that metal out."_

It's soon after that that Sabine couldn't remember anything else.


	5. Emergency

When Sabine awoke, there were bandages on her head and around her stomach. The clean, white hospital, devoid of color, devoid of _life_ , it felt like, confused her.

"Where am I? What happened?" She mumbled.

"Just got out of surgery," a dead-sounding voice said. She looked over to see Bella Swan, the girl who Sabine thought had gotten crushed. Then she remembered some of the voices. _Edward Cullen wasn't there before, but they found him in the wreckage, unharmed... Huh._

"Surgery?" She looked down at her bandaged hands, and the dull, throbbing pain in her head brought back some more memories of the past twenty-four hours.

"You were a real wreck," another boy said, looking over at her.

"Who are you?" Sabine asked suspiciously.

"Tyler, the guy who crashed an SUV into the back of your car. Sorry about that, by the way," he said.

"'S fine," she slurred, and she attempted to casually swat the air, but ended up only making a half-hearted flap.

"Hey, why aren't you in a stretcher?" Bella accused as Edward Cullen walked in.

"It's all about who you know. Hey Tyler, Sabine."

Sabine attempted to sit up. Cullen made her extremely uneasy.

"You won't have to wait much longer though," he said to Bella. "I've brought someone to spring you."

 _Oh no._

"Hello, Bella," Dr. Cullen said, as he came in. "I understand that Edward says you're bored?"

Sabine let a groan escape her lips, and she sat up in a panic. Her heart was pumping fast, her blood ran cold, and every nerve in her body screamed run.

"You okay over there, Sabine?"

She stared at him, her eyes wild with panic. "I'll get to you in a moment," he decided, and began working on Bella, who was discharged rather quickly.

"Come back if you're dizzy, or your vision is blurring. Tyler, I'm afraid you'll have to stay a bit longer." Dr. Cullen then went over to Sabine, who attempted to back up, but only hit pillows.

"Are you okay? What do you see?" He asked calmly.

"I see you, Dr. Cullen," Sabine replied honestly. "I'm in the hospital right now, I know."

"Are you afraid of doctors, then?" He asked, with the slightest trace of a smile.

"Let's go with that," Sabine decided.

He checked her over. "We're going to have to wait a few weeks, make sure the stomach wound has healed completely, and make sure that there's no major brain trauma."

"What about school?" Sabine protested.

"I've asked your family, and Mr. Jarrus said that... Sathkan, is that right?- will be bringing your schoolwork," he explained.

Sabine allowed herself to relax a little. "Speaking of which, I believe your family wishes to see you," Dr. Cullen said. "Both of the young men have been a bit...restless. I think one of them's about to wear a hole in the waiting room carpet."

"That would be Ezra," she murmured.

"I'll go let them in," Dr. Cullen said as he strode away.

Within a few minutes, Ezra and Sathkan practically ran in, followed by a calm but quickly-walking Kanan. Ezra practically threw himself at her, wrapping his arms around her as best he could with her being attached to bags of fluid. Sathkan hugged her from the other side.

"Boys, boys, it's not like I'm dead," Sabine protested, with a smile on her face. They sobered.

"You almost were," Kanan said seriously.

"I'm sorry about the _Phantom_ ," she replied quickly. "I saw him coming all too fast and I couldn't do anything-"

"Sabine," he said gently. "I'm not worried about the car. Hera's going to have to drive you three to school now, but we'll eventually save up for another car. We're just glad that you're still alive. None of this was your fault."

She nodded, understanding his drift now.

"I thought you were dead," Sathkan said in a hollow voice.

"So did I," she replied, remembering the thought that went through her head after the impact. _Am I dying?_

No, no she wasn't. Thank the Force.


	6. Decode

**AN: I didn't like the old version, so I re-wrote it.**

"So, how's school?" Sabine asked as she accepted her homework the gifted thirteen-year-old had brought to her.

"There's another new girl," Sathkan admitted. "She hasn't come yet, but the town is already gossiping about her, naturally."

"What are the old birds squawking about?" She asked.

"Something about witchcraft, and how the kid's moved around from school to school, something about accidents happening around her frequently," he said with a shrug.

She raised an eyebrow. "They sound a lot more interesting than the rumors going around about Bella Swan."

"Definitely," he agreed. He checked his watch, battered from his former life among vampires. "I've gotta run, Ashoka and Kanan are picking me up, and I'm going to be about five minutes late."

"Well, thanks for coming with my homework," Sabine said as she sat up straight. "Tell Hera, Zeb, and Ezra that I said hello. Give Chopper a hug for me."

"A hug?" Sathkan looked taken aback. "Hug Chopper? 'Bine, don't you know what that cat would do to me?"

She giggled. "Of course I do, Sathkan."

He sighed. "See you later, 'Bine." With that, he jogged down the stairs, to where Kanan and Ashoka were waiting.

"Y

ou're late," Kanan noticed.

"Sorry, Sabine wanted to hear about school," he apologized.

"About the new girl, you mean?" Ashoka asked, raising an eyebrow.

The two adults took Sathkan's blush as confirmation.

They smiled knowingly, and continued on the drive home.

The next morning, Sathkan walked down the halls, and he knew at once that the new girl must have arrived. He could hear the usual buzz before school turn to a rumble.

"My mom says she causes accidents everywhere she goes," Jessica Stanley said to Bella Swan. "She's been in three schools already, and kicked out each time, after nasty things happened to the students there. Some choked to death, when no one was holding their throats, but themselves. Others were run over by a car. Others, no one knows what happened to them, but the last person they were seen with was the new girl."

* * *

Sathkan sighed as he sat down in Biology. Upon his first day of re-entering school, he'd tested out of several classes, thanks to his education with the vamps, as cruel as they were.

"Class? Class?" Mr. Banner asked. "Quiet down, we have a new student."

"What do you mean, we have a new student?" Lauren Mallory called out. "The new girl's supposed to be a freshman."

That caught Sathkan's attention. A girl who was actually close to his age for once? That would be nice, even though he only seemed to have crushes on the unattainable. _Ah, Sabine,_ he thought, practically smelling her acrylic perfume and the sweet pastels.

"She'll be here in a few minutes, her guardian needed to fill out some paperwork with her in the office," Mr. Banner continued.

Mallory and Stanley exchanged a glance and a smirk as morning announcements came on.

 _I wonder what she's like,_ Sathkan wondered. _She's bound to have interesting stories to tell, with a chain of bad luck like that. Must be brilliant, too, to be in these classes, years and years above her normal age's grade level. Again, thank Volturi for homeschool._

His train of thought was interrupted by the _scream_ of the Force in his ears. He clamped his hands over his ears, and screwed his eyes shut, trying to block out the effects. When he could open his eyes again, he saw her standing in front of the entire class.

Her long brown hair was braided into two buns on the sides of her head, and she was wearing a white hoodie with light-colored jeans and white Converse that had some stains from trudging through Forks mud. Her expression was serious, with a bit of sadness behind it as her chocolate eyes surveyed the classroom.

Everyone now stared at Sathkan.

"She made him hurt just by staring at him!" Lauren cried, her eyes widening and her hands clapped over her mouth.

"I did not," the new girl replied. "My name is Leia Organa, daughter of the Senator for Washington, and I don't know what you've heard, but I'm not some sort of witch."

She rolled her eyes in derision at the idea.

"Thank you, Miss Organa. You may take a seat next to Mr. Lun." Mr. Banner's voice was calm and cool.

Sathkan raised his hand, but Mr. Banner ignored him, and the regal figure of Leia Organa sat down next to him. As they went through the lesson on the uses of the mitochondrion, others glared at the young girl, but she paid attention, and occasionally threw a glare right back.

"Mr. Banner, we need your help in the lab," one of the students from across the hall panted. "Ms. Allan said something about the chemicals being spilled and they're having to use the shower on-"

"I'm coming right now," he interrupted grimly and he exited. All eyes turned to Leia Organa.

"You don't belong here!" Jessica Stanley hissed cruelly. "Go back to where you came from, you freak."

Leia regarded her coolly for a moment, and then looked down to her notebook. Then someone threw something when the junior behind her, a long-haired cocky kid with attitude shielded her. His hairy friend that everyone only knew as "Chewie" wailed in fear.

"I'm just fine, fuzzball," the junior assured Chewie as he straightened his jacket. "You alright, your Highness?"

"I'm just fine, and I didn't need your help!" Leia snapped.

"Well looky here, someone nearly hit you with a glass tube," the junior retorted. "Let's face it, if it weren't for me, you'd be taking a trip to the nurse's office."

Leia looked as if she was choking on something as she folded her arms over her chest. "Who do I have the honor of thanking, then?"

"The name's Solo, Han Solo," he said, extending a hand. "Glad I could help you, Princess."

She scowled and looked back to her notebook.

* * *

Sathkan ran to Ezra while he was taking to Zare Leonis, one of his best friends. "Spector Six, we have a problem!"

"I'll see you later, man," Ezra said, and he walked over to Sathkan. "What's going on, Spector Seven?"

"That new girl. . . I think she's force-sensitive," Sathkan hissed.

"What?" Ezra shook his head. "That doesn't make sense! Spector One and Spector Eight said there were no more Jedi, not since the Purge!"

"Well, tell that to the Force," Sathkan said irritably. He then almost crumpled as Leia walked by, Han and Chewie watching her with twin smirks as the leaned against the wall, ready for any deals they could make on. . . contraband items.

"Holy S***! I felt it too!" Ezra hissed as the sensation faded.

"We've gotta tell Spector One and Spector Eight, they'll know what to do," Sathkan said confidently.

"Then what was the point of telling me?" Ezra asked.

"You have a free period," Sathkan pointed out.

* * *

"Interesting. I think I do sense something," Ashoka said as she waited for the force-sensitive to exit the school building.

"I can't imagine how a little girl would survive without the Volturi getting to them," Kanan said.

"We'll still train her, right?" Ezra asked eagerly.

"Hopefully," Ashoka said.

Leia exited, looking behind her at where Chewie and Han were getting in their precious car, the Millennium Falcon, and then back at the small group awaiting her.

"What do you want?" She snarled. "To burn me at the stake?"

"No," Kanan answered. "We have answers, as to what you can do."

"We can train you to use your special power," Ashoka added. "You have the power of the Force."

"The Force?" Leia echoed as she looked down at her hands. She closed her eyes, and when she reopened them, there was a newfound confidence. "Somehow, I've always known, I guess. That's why Redhead's been following me."

"Redhead?" Sathkan asked having a sinking feeling.

"She's been following me from town to town, trying to kill me. She's caused all of those accidents, just because others have been in her way," Leia explained.

Ashoka and Kanan shared a look as Sathkan threw his hands on her shoulders and tried to meet her eyes. "Who was she? What's her name? Did you ever get a name?"

"She always went by Arica Pradeux," Leia admitted.

Sathkan fainted.


	7. Killer Queen

"Sathkan? Sathkan!"

He first heard Ezra's panicked voice, and felt Kanan shaking him. When he opened his eyes, he saw Leia standing over him in horror and confusion.

"What happened? What's wrong?" She asked.

Sathkan wearily sat up without help. "I know that name," he said, almost to himself. "It was a codename for an agent, someone very important, someone with a gift, but I'm sure it wasn't her real name. She was some sort of Hand. . ."

"How much do you know?" Kanan's even voice barely hid his panic. "How worried should we be?"

"Very," Sathkan gulped. "If she's a secret, even to the Empire, she's a real contender."

"The Empire! My father's been fighting against those bloodsuckers for years," Leia said. "Ever since the betrayal of a Jedi named Darth Vader."

"He may have been a Jedi at first," Kanan agreed. "But Darth is not a name. It's a title for a lord of the Sith. Vader was one of us once, but who, I do not know."

Suddenly, Leia straightened, and she turned in horror. "No, not already!" She pulled out of her shirt a small pistol and looked around warily.

"What is it?" Ezra asked.

Sathkan closed his eyes, and felt the cold, the fear radiating off of this person. "She's here."

Sure enough, on the rooftop, so plainly they wondered why they hadn't seen her before, was a redheaded girl in a black tank top and dark jeans with a white infinity scarf pulled over her nose and mouth. In her black-gloved hands, she wielded a lightsaber.

They heard a _snap-hiss_ and a magenta blade shimmered into existence and the girl leapt down from the rooftop. She was only Sathkan's age, and she was deadly, fierce.

Kanan and Ashoka activated their lightsabers, and Leia held her pistol up, and aimed for the girl, who reflected the bullets. As if in bullet time, Leia epically dodged the reflections, and fired again as Kanan and Ashoka advanced.

Mid-swing, Kanan pulled out a gun and fired at the girl, who smirked and reflected it. She pulled out a handgun of her own, and fired rapidly, effectively distracting Ashoka.

Then a gunshot came from out of the car, and Chewie was holding a rifle out of the sunroof. Han jumped out of the car, wielding a Mauser, and fired at Arica and dodged the bullets as he made his way over to Leia.

"Princess, you didn't tell me people were legitimately trying to kill you over this witchcraft thing," he said.

"I wish that's just what it was," Leia snapped as she fired off another shot.

"Now why do these people want to kill you, Highness?" Han asked.

"Because she works for vampires, and my father's taking them down in the worldwide government," Leia retorted.

"Wow, they said you were crazy..."

"I am not crazy!" Leia glared at him, and a bullet almost reflected into Han's skull if it weren't for a Force-push from Leia.

"What was that?" Han asked, glaring at her.

"The Force!" Sathkan replied as he cowered against the car with Ezra.

"Come on, Princess, let's go," Han announced, and he pulled Leia with him to the Falcon and threw her into the backseat. Chewie retreated into the shotgun, and Han sped off in the car.

Arica growled. "That's the third time this month!"

"Maybe you shouldn't be such a crappy assassin," Ezra called out. Sathkan slammed Ezra to the ground with him, barely missing a bullet from Arica.

"You don't wanna mess with her!" He hissed. "She's someone who will not hesitate to do it. Leia's lucky to have evaded her at all. It's her gift, I promise," Sathkan told Ezra.

"Get in the _Ghost_!" Ashoka yelled as she twirled her white laser-blades with elegance.

Ezra and Sathkan jumped in, and Kanan made his way to the driver's seat as Ashoka engaged Arica in combat. The thirteen-year-old kept her cool, and her magenta blade clashed against the white ones with force and skill beyond what Ashoka had encountered in Inquisitors before.

Kanan circled the _Ghost_ around, and stopped right where Arica was, causing her to dive to the ground, allowing Ashoka to jump into the car and they sped away.

"What was that?" Ezra asked.

"Oh Force, she's an Emperor's Hand," Sathkan muttered. "Oh no, oh no, this is really bad. . ."

"How is she any worse than some of the Inquisitors Kanan and Ashoka told us about?" Ezra asked.

"The Inquisitors are controlled by Vader," Kanan answered as Ashoka looked away.

"You don't know who an Emperor's Hand is until you've met them," Sathkan continued. "She's the best, if I remember correctly."

"She's only thirteen!" Ashoka cried in horror.

"I was an apprentice to Vader a year ago," Sathkan reminded them.

"Still, one of the best assassins," Ashoka looked troubled. "Oh what have you been up to, Skyguy?"

"Who're you talking to?" Ezra asked.

The petite woman's fierce glare was upon him. "Leave it alone, Bridger."

"Okay." He put his hands up, surprised at the ferocity of the usually calm, small woman.

"Hera's not going to like this," Kanan murmured.

* * *

The Emperor's Hand got to her feet.

 _Jade, why have you deliberated in taking the offspring of Organa?_

The voice that had always been there, the psychopathic, creaky voice she'd secretly feared as a small child was there again.

 _There was a complication, Master_ , she admitted. _The apprentice of Vader and a rebel cell of Jedi got in the way._

 _Ah, yes, I forgot about the failed apprentice of Vader,_ the voice mused. _Your mission has extended, Jade. You must kill them all. I'm having Vader bring in his Inquisitors to help._

She groaned. She despised the lesser dark Force-users, all about brutality. They were practically useless in the Hand's eyes, and she was superior to them in every way. Yet because they were adults, they treated her like she was a small child. The very idea of being treated that way made her bristle.

 _You will do as I say, Jade._

She scowled. _Yes, Master._

She began down the road to the house where she would be staying during this crisis. Tomorrow, she would be in school for the fifty-millionth time.


	8. Mara Jade

Hera tugged on her blond braids as she heard the story. "An assassin? At _thirteen?_ "

Sathkan nodded.

"Poor girl," Hera said.

Sathkan was quick to shake his head. "Not poor girl! She gets wealth, a reputation, and a purpose. The Emperor's Hand doesn't feel emotions, from what I know."

"You know that isn't true," Hera scolded.

"Look, who's the Empire expert, you or me?" He shot back.

"Still! You've got to use your heart, Sathkan, you're one of us now," Hera said, and everyone fell into silence.

"Today, we were going to pick up Sabine," Kanan finally said. "Does everyone still want to come?"

All of the Spectors nodded.

* * *

Sabine limped into school the next day. The first thing she noticed was that in her art class was a new girl, but it wasn't the one Sathkan and Ezra had described with brown hair and brown eyes in white.

She had fiery red hair hanging over her shoulders and bright green eyes that focused intensely on her piece of work. She wore simple clothes, jeans and a dark burgundy shirt that almost resembled the hue of blood, if it weren't for too much of a purple tint.

No one seemed to know the new girl's name, despite the roll call. She'd been in the classes at the beginning of each, and she'd been quiet. There were only two things that brought attention to her-her red hair, and the regal scowl on her face, as if she were superior to all of them in every way.

She struggled over to her. "Hey, are you new?"

The girl looked up. "Yes," she answered coldly with an almost British accent, very clear and cold.

"Must be hard. You like art?" Sabine asked.

"I suppose, but I prefer dancing," she said honestly.

"That's too bad," Sabine said. "I adore all the colors, and everything."

"That's nice," the redhead replied as she went back to the intricate drawing she'd been working on. It displayed a light-haired boy, cute, and kinda like Sathkan from what Sabine could see.

"Do you know him?" Sabine asked.

"Once," the new girl replied, and she was silent.

"So, how old are you?"

"Thirteen." Her words were clipped and precise.

"Am I annoying you or something?" Sabine finally asked, confused by her behavior.

"I don't know why you need to keep asking!" The fiery-haired girl finally cried. "I'm not very open, and you don't need to know anything about me if I don't want you to!"

"Geez, you're not exactly nice, are you?" Sabine asked, a little disgusted.

A small smile curled up on the girl's face. "Took you that long, huh, _Mand'alor_?"

"What are you talking about?" Sabine asked, confused.

"They didn't tell you!" The girl laughed, and the bell rang. She walked out at a quick pace and despite her hair, she disappeared into the crowd, much to Sabine's dismay.

"Were you talking to that redhead?" Sathkan asked in horror.

"Yeah, why?" she replied.

" _That's_ the Emperor's Hand!" He hissed. "Not someone you want to mess with!"

"That's why she was so unfriendly!" Sabine gasped.

"You're lucky to be alive," Sathkan muttered.

"What are you kids whispering about?" Han walked up to them.

"Spector 7, why is Han Solo talking to us?" Sabine demanded in Sathkan's ear as Chewie and a reluctant Leia came up behind them.

"I can hear you," he snapped. "Look, in case you didn't know, I know your family's little secret since I happened to be around when this princess got attacked." He placed his hands on Leia's shoulders, and she glared at him.

"I didn't ask for you to be there!" She snapped.

"Well, Your Worship," he shot back. "At least I managed to get you away. With Chewie's help, that is."

Sabine's jaw dropped. "A lot happened since I was out."

"School dance tickets! On sale now!" Jessica Stanley called out in a fake preppy voice.

"Sounds like fun, Your Worship," Han said, nudging Leia.

Leia rolled her eyes, but much to everyone's surprise, she smiled.

"I guess, although I'd prefer it if you weren't such a scruffy-looking nerdherder," she managed.

"Hey, who's scruffy-looking?" Han demanded. He turned to the other two. "You didn't hear her last night in the car, when she professed her true feelings for me." With that, the trio walked away.

"That was strange," Sabine said.

Sathkan gulped. This was his chance. "Would you like to come to the dance, Sabine?"

She nodded. "Sounds like fun. Maybe we could go with Leia to Port Angelos on Wednesday."

"It's a date!" Leia called.

"You're such a cool brother, taking me to stuff like this," Sabine said with a smile, and she limped off, much to Sathkan's disappointment.

"So you're Sathkan Lun," a cold, crisp voice said behind him. He whipped around to see the Emperor's Hand standing right in front of him, a strange smile on her face.

"What do you want?" He whispered, and he fumbled for the hilt of his lightsaber in fear of what she'd do to him.

"I just wanted to talk to you. Biology genius, surprisingly good at P.E., you seem like a golden boy," she said.

"My case workers would disagree with you," he said coldly. "Former gangster from Seattle. Got caught by Kanan, and his family took me in."

"Interesting," she said, and a genuine smile seemed to melt her icy exterior. "You're very interesting, Lun."

"Um, thanks," he muttered. He began to walk away.

"Jade," she called.

"What?" Sathkan turned around.

A shy smile was on her face. "I thought you might want to know my name. Mara Jade."

It was then the redhead's turn to walk away.


End file.
